Or, more specifically, your meaning.
What gets you up in the morning?
Or, more specifically, your meaning.
What gets you up in the morning?
An alarm clock.
Because I have to or I'd be sacked.
Fucked if I know.
You've got a kid now, right? That must've changed your perspective on life quite a bit, no?Originally Posted by Spikey M
Python's worst.
It was my first and thought it was amazing.
I watched it a second time and by christ it was shit.
I don't think I'll ever derive any satisfaction out of life, but doing myself in would upset the dog, so I'm just floating along.
It has moments but weigh it up against the two classics and its a jumbled mess.
Edit: posting from mobile is a fuck. Meant to quote 'how
Habit.
Plus, whilst being homeless and addicted to crack would open up a lot more free time on balance I prefer a bed, a shower, food and stuff.
My dog, my hobbies, my job all give me enough happiness and fulfillment.
I guess the old missuss makes life feel easy if shit gets a bit hard but living in Brisbane is very easy.
I probably should have read more than just the title
The title was ok, he fucked it up by asking what gets us up in the morning.
I like a good time.
I fleet from obsession to obsession/addiction to addiction.
This has landed me with the world's best job but also a substance abuse problem.
I get up in the morning to participate in life. Whether that's enjoying the food I eat, the sports I watch on tv, Football Manager, some Playstation, reading the news or looking at lol memes. I get enjoyment out of lots of things and if I didn't there'd be no point at all. Yeah we have to work x amount of hours per week but it's everything else that I live for.
I think I'm the archetypal "millennial" that requires constant stimulation. I've spent half my life on the internet, done a lot of "here have some pleasure" drugs, and have a job that is inherently high-low.
As long as I have something to engage with/be excited about, I'm fine. Boredom is hell.
Helping people. It's what motivated me to go into teaching and it's what motivates me towards counselling. Doing what I can to help in some way is what motivates me, and there's a vast array of literature suggesting that's it's usually only committing yourself to a cause outside of yourself in which you feel you're doing something important and good in the world that makes people feel genuinely happy.
Probably best expressed by Viktor Franklin who said something along the lines of happiness not being something that you should pursue; it is something that ensues as a result of listening to your conscience and pursuing what you find meaningful.
But yeah, helping people is what I find meaningful. I don't expect to change the world in any big way but if I can look in the mirror as an old man and generally be satisfied that I've done my best in my work and jn my attitude towards people in general, then that's enough for me. While balancing it with my own needs, obviously. Thats what I'm aiming for and its what gets me up in the morning.
I got into a row this week with my flatmates because I echoed something that was said on here (I think it was you Body) about a lot of identity politics mostly being a load of narcissistic shite. They all got pissy at me about it and self righteous on their social justice bandwagon.
Thing is, personally I think they both have a fundamentally cynical and distrustful view of humanity and are quite fearful of people in general. I suspect that that's where a lot of this stuff stems from, in them at least. To campaign for social justice on the internet using words and yet to be so scared or incapable of connecting to real people in the real world on a human level, especially people who are aren't like them.
I think for them it's a substitute to mask that fear and feeling of inadequacy when it comes to building bridges with real human beings. Because in practice they're hypocrites - they're both fucking self absorbed and do shit all for social justice or anything for other people in the real world. They're both fucking miserable cunts, and I'd say it's probably their self absorption and egotism that make them that way.
But anyway, I'm rambling. Helping people, balanced appropriately with indulging myself and having fun.
Literally the only reason I continue living is because it would upset my mother if it didn't.
No parent should have to bury their child.
It's all I have. If something happened to her I would off myself the day after the funeral.
It is what it is, boys.
I seem to be stuck in a cycle of becoming bored, going on a bit of a binge, then feeling like shit for a few days. Even coming back to uni for third year in September, it only took about 3/4 weeks before I got bored of actually working. The seminars are pretty much all the same (English seminars are so shit) and I really struggle to motivate myself to do something I don't see the point in. I don't think I'll ever be totally happy whilst I don't have full control over my life. In that respect, I carry on because of my family and because I'm far too much of a coward to go through with it. I don't actually want anything from life in the long term.
Ultimately, I think there are natural urges in all of us to better those around us, so the meaning of life is simply to dominate and procreate. After going off the idea of kids, I'm starting to come around to the idea because it provides a purpose, but at the same time I'm not sure having kids for selfish reasons is a good idea. The people I know from school that have kids already most likely did so because they had fuck all else happening (not that I'm any better), and I think with children you're too busy to sit around thinking about the meaning of life, plus you tell yourself that they're your life now and that's no doubt an easy lie to believe.
I came to that conclusion when I was trying to help my friend stop being miserable. Obviously it didn't help.
Help him @Hammer.
I am quite happy. No good reasons for it, I just am. My studies are pretty boring but they don't really bother me. I don't get any sense of fulfillment out of it but it doesn't make me want to make me kill myself either. Felt the same of most jobs I've had, only a few were proper shit and I stopped those within weeks. I do quite enjoy my cycling (and that's what 'gets me up in the morning,' 5am every day) but I wouldn't be too bothered if I had to stop doing it for some reason. Apart from that, I enjoy doing stuff but I also enjoy doing fuck all. What can I say, I am easily pleased. Don't really see the need to try to attach 'meaning' to anything I do.
My mate topped himself a few weeks back. It wasn't Earth-shattering for me, but we were very close for a time in first and second year. Ultimately, he'd attempted it before he came to university and it had apparently been a 9 year battle. I came to the conclusion that I respect a man's right to take his own life as long as he has no dependants (not that I was specifically against it before). Killing yourself is seen as cowardly and seen as selfish, but I don't think people that say that really understand, and I don't think I do either. It shouldn't be a decision worth taking lightly, but ultimately if you've had enough you've had enough. I'd rather carry on, because there's no undo button, but some people were dealt a duff hand and the internal torture just isn't worth enduring.
Also, I think Hammer's "helping people" is more of an answer to 'what stops you sinking into depression?' than looking into the meaning of life. It does feel good to help people, but it also feels like you're just distracting yourself from asking real questions about yourself.
42.
I like my job, the people I work with and the few times I actually don't worry about money are relatively stress-free. And I'm a monumental fuck-up, I don't see what's so hard about it really.
That's life, the universe and everything.
I was content with just an answer for life.
There's no inherent reason to wake up, so you've got to give yourself reasons. Whether that's a project you're working on, school, travel, whatever. Even just the fact that you're alive and conscious, which is incredibly lucky. The best thing a person can be is alive. That said, my roll of the dice was pretty lucky, I have an easy life, all of my problems are incredibly small relative to most people even in the U.S., my future will probably be good, I get to travel a lot -- so it's easy for me to be philosophical about it without having to actually struggle for anything material.
Whenever I need to remember the reason to wake up in the morning, I read the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.
I do wonder why homeless people still bother. I suppose when your life just gradually gets worse it doesn't feel like that big of a deal, but at the same time they clearly don't have family worth hanging about for. There are so many homeless blokes in Brighton, most of them sitting alone, and there are some huge cliffs a few hours away. I always try and say 'alright?' to them because I read some former homeless bloke saying the worst part is not feeling part of society anymore, but it doesn't half look shit.
That's 45. Get your canon right. Universe + Everything = 3.
edit: Is that right? I haven't read those in a decade. Or is it that the question is actually 7x5?
Not sure if I agree that that's necessarily the case. The bit about using it to avoid thinking about things properly, that is. It can definitely can be used for that but I dunno if it's always the case. Some people help others who would be happy anyway, they just do it because it makes them feel even better.
The whole idea that altruism isn't real if it makes you feel good seems like a misnomer to me too. If you feel good helping people then that's really cool - why the need to label it? Who gives a shit if it lives up to this abstract concept? It's a label made up by human beings, not an actual thing that exists in the world.
Happy to chat if he wants to PM me, otherwise not much I can do really is there
You sound like a busybody. Wind yourself in.
You sound like a miserable cunt, and always have.
Well, yeah. Obviously.
Life for me is getting through to the next game of cricket.
Enjoying as much of it as I can. Things like work are purely a means to an end and so I like to get as much out of it (money specifically, job satisfaction is non-existent) as possible with the least amount of effort as it's all meaningless.
- The knowledge not being alive would be worse.
- A good curry.
Life is dope. There's so much to learn and so many cool people to meet. I feel hella lucky i've never dealt with depression, I can't imagine not finding things fun.
The main thing I live for is socialising and having mates and stuff. I'm fucking feckless, incompetent and unmotivated in most aspects of my life, but I'm fucking boss at maintaining friendships. Possibly a terrible long-term investment that'll really sting me when everyone starts settling down and getting married, but for now I quite like it. Some element of future-proofing involved as most of my extended circle are inept oddballs that are too shit at life to outgrow me.
Art, good company, family, learning, travel, experiences, memories, charity, love.
Ultimately it's all horseshit, but we have to try.
I'm quite content with a Starbucks and vaping session for now.
Yeah. How's that for you?
Well he won Best Poster 15 years in a row so I'd say it's working out quite well for him.
A few months back while I was still working the Airport job and the Internship, I was drinking a budget lager on a park bench on a day where I hadn't eaten due to lack of money (beer is 50 cents, there isn't a single piece of food in the shop that costs a third of that and it filled my stomach), some Moroccan bloke passed by and asked if he could sit next to me and I said no problem. He explained he was having some dinner before cleaning the kitchen of the restaurant round the corner. He kept asking me to have some, to the point of ripping off some of his rotisserie chicken and basically forcing it into my hand while I did my polite British person act. We chatted about our lives when my flate mate called me, asking for 20 quid that I owed him that I didn't have. Once I'd got off the line he asked if I was stressed out about something. I explained the situation and he proceeded to force me to take 20 quid then asked if I smoked. I said yeah but I don't have the money for them and he gave me his whole pack save for 3. I told him I couldn't take it and he went into a long spiel about God and that God created this earth for people to be good to each other blah blah blah so I'm duty bound to take it. This was a guy who had already told me worked 2 shitty jobs to make ends meet, giving me his dinner, his money, and his cigarettes to a random stranger and I've never been so touched or thankful. Ever since I got on my feet I've volunteered at the local shelter every couple of weeks. I really should do it more.
Offy, keep saying alright to those homeless guys and make sure it's more than 'alright' because it matters, believe me. Altruism is boss.
God is still wack.
Got Club Lewis up and running and everything.
Definitely something to put on the CV.
Don't mean to sound like a wanker or anything, but I just don't see the point in trying to shit on everything.
Would it? It'd be like before you were born. Do you remember what that was like?
Not that I'm suicidal or anything. I'm not even really (all that) depressed at the minute. I'm still on my meds but I've had those for over a year now. I'm relatively happy. My job's boring but it's easy, the people there are generally okay and everything just generally washes over me and doesn't bother me too much these days. My thinking isn't anywhere near as negative as it used to be. There are things I enjoy but sometimes enjoyment just doesn't feel like enough, you know?
Maybe it's a lack of direction at the minute but there's a sort of nagging feeling that there should be something more. Hammer's probably right about the helping people thing. I think I'd benefit from that anyway but I don't really know where to begin with it.
Or maybe I need to find a religion or something, idk.
Boydy, do you remember me having a go at you when you decided to go for admin jobs? This is why. You need to realise what you want to do with your life and actually go and fucking do it.
You got into Oxford for fucks sake, you're clearly an intelligent guy and you had an opportunity most would kill for and chucked it, that's fine. Many smarter than you have done. But to chuck it for being a fucking admin assistant in Ireland? For fucks sake mate, come on. I'd be depressed.
Just what else are you going to do? From the moment you're born your are destined to live and then die. This will, for most people, take many, many years. Might as well get schooled, earn money and fuck. At the very least.
I also have the opinion that destiny is a bullshit concept and that you can control so much of your life. And you have ages to get it how you want it.
I bet he didn't put it on his CV and that's why he's still unemployed.
I guess the 'helping people' thing could mean anything really. Donating/volunteering/fundraising for a charity, making friends and buying some milk for some old person knocking around the area (there's often a charity type thing for finding out about that kind of thing), football training with kids...whatever. For me it's preferable to do something for a job where I feel like I'm helping folk and - after a few years - I'm there for my paid job and hoping to have something else with my counselling....but it doesn't have to be all about the job. Just little things really.
But balance it out, fucks sake, and do the helping thing in a way that's enjoyable if you can. No point in 'helping people' in a way that makes you resentful. Learned that one pretty quickly. Otherwise you'll just get tired of it.
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